Twenty-seven illegal immigrants and two soldiers were injured, some of them seriously, after members of the armed forces beat the immigrants during a peaceful protest at the Kirkop football ground yesterday morning.

Calling on the European Union to harmonise the asylum policies of its members, the United Nations refugee agency has flayed Malta's policies in this regard and condemned, what it called, "deliberate attacks" by the country's soldiers on asylum-seekers demonstrating peacefully in a detention centre. As a result of the "bludgeoning" mounted as some of the 450 asylum-seekers who protested on a football pitch last Thursday in the Safi detention centre, 26 asylum-seekers were hospitalised, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said. According to UNHCR legal staff members from Rome who happened to be visiting Malta at the time and who went to the Safi centre, a former barracks, one of the injured had three broken bones in one leg, another had to take 15 stitches and a third received six stitches.

UNHCR said it welcomed the speed with which the Maltese government announced that it was launching an enquiry into the matter, but added that it had received no reply to a detailed, written report on certain unacceptable conditions in the four detention centres. Malta imposes mandatory detention on asylum seekers while they wait to see if they will be given refugee status. The time has been reduced to 18 months from indefinite detention, UNHCR said.

Some of the soldiers looking on could be heard urging their colleagues to be heavy-handed with the protesters.

"Smash those blacks' faces in" and "Hit him in the head" were some of the comments shouted out during a 15-minute, one-sided scuffle.

Now I don't know if that insert was exaggeration or even a lie. But it would be great if that was truly said by the soldiers.

Rick

__________________

"One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying." - Joan of Arc

Good friends will never be forgotten. You may lose them in body. But their spirit will always be within the hearts of those they touched. Goodbye for now my friend until we meet again in a better place.
RIP John Law
1955-2008

Following the incidents at Safi Barracks where illegal immigrants and soldiers of the Armed Forces of Malta were involved in clashes, it has been revealed that some detained asylum seekers have often been caught with makeshift weapons. These include knives and other improvised weapons such as broken bottles, knitting needles and sharp edged rulers amongst others.

The incidents occurred on the Thursday 13th January 2005 and have sparked great controversy. An inquiry is underway, led by Magistrate Franco Depasquale. On Sunday, It-Torca revealed that some asylum seekers have been caught carrying these make-shift weapons throughout their stay at Safi barracks. The weapons seem to have been created for the purpose of wounding others, especially soldiers.